Articles

Retirement/Financial Independence Planning

Retiring? Take Control of Your Assets
After years of saving and investing, you can finally see the big day — retirement. But before kicking back, you still need to address a few matters. Decisions made now could make the difference between your money outlasting you or vice versa. Calculating Your Retirement Needs First, figure out how much income you may need. When retirement was years away, this exercise may have involved a lot of estimates. Now, you can be more accurate. Read More

Calculating Your Retirement Needs
When retirement was years away, calculating how much income you may need may have involved a lot of estimates. Now you can be more accurate. Consider the following factors: 1. The length of your retirement. The average 65-year-old man can expect to live about 17 more years; the average 65-year-old woman, 20 more years, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Read More

Three Key Retirement Income Considerations
There are two factors that can determine whether you’ll have a comfortable retirement: The amount of money you’ve saved and how quickly you spend that nest egg after you retire. The rate of annual withdrawals from personal savings and investments helps determine how long those assets will last and whether the assets may be able to generate a sustainable stream of income over the course of retirement. A number of factors will influence your choice of annual withdrawal rate. The following are three key considerations. Read More

Withdrawing Your Assets: Understanding RMD’s
When it comes time to start withdrawing the money you’ve spent a lifetime accumulating in your retirement portfolio, you want to ensure that you make the right decisions. One that the government makes for you is requiring that you withdraw at least some of your funds annually, depending on the account type. This is known as a required minimum distribution, or RMD, and it must be taken from your non-Roth retirement accounts by April 1 each year, starting the year after you turn age 70 1/2. Read More

Considerations for Owning Company Stock
Owning company stock within your employer-sponsored retirement plan is not necessarily a bad thing. The issue, however, is that for some investors, company stock may represent too large a percentage of their retirement plan assets. Here are some tips to help you determine if your portfolio is too heavily weighted with your employer’s stock. Read More

Healthcare

Budgeting for Healthcare in Retirement
While the precarious long-term financial health of the Social Security system gets most of the press, the Medicare system is on an equally uneven footing. According to the latest report from the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees, Medicare is projected to exhaust its assets by 2029. In 2007, the latest year data is available, Medicare covered less than two-thirds (64%) of the health care services for beneficiaries age 65 and older. Read More

Understanding Medicare
Most adults become eligible for Medicare on the first day of the month they turn age 65. Whether you need to sign up, and how to go about doing so, depends on the type of coverage you select and whether you collect Social Security benefits prior to becoming eligible for Medicare. Medicare Eligibility – If you have already started receiving Social Security benefits before your 65th birthday, you don’t have to sign-up for Medicare Part A or Part B. Read More

Women and Investing

Financial Planning For Women
A key goal of investing for retirement is making sure you save enough to make your money last throughout your lifetime. On this score, women may need to save more than men. The current life expectancy of a female at birth is almost 81 years, compared with 75 years for a male.1 Although six years may not appear significant, many people in this age group incur expenses for health care and other items while living off of Social Security and personal assets. Read More

Women Increasingly Primary Earners, but Not Financially Confident
More than half of women (53%) surveyed recently are the primary breadwinners in their households, yet only 20% consider themselves “very well prepared” with their financial decision making. Nearly one-third of those surveyed said they earn more than their spouse as a direct result of the rocky economy. Among male breadwinners, 45% consider themselves “very well prepared” with their financial decision making. Read More

Funding Challenges of Women Owned Business
Although the number of women who apply for and obtain equity capital has increased in the past few years, progress has been slow. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, women are less likely than men to use venture capital as a source of business funding.* Why this disparity exists isn’t entirely clear. Experts have suggested various possible reasons. Women lack experience in the equity markets. Read More

Women, Wealth and Legacy Planning
Whether nurturing the values of children, fulfilling charitable goals, or making investment decisions that affect their own as well as their beneficiaries’ financial security, women play a central role in establishing and preserving family wealth. Women need to be involved, informed, and comfortable with their role as guardians of family wealth. Active participation in wealth management can strengthen women’s commitment to protect and grow their assets with the goal of leaving a legacy for their children, their community, and beyond. Read More

Personal Finance

What Is Asset Allocation?
It’s important to understand the different asset classes and the role they may be able to play in your financial strategies. Many financial experts believe that asset allocation may be the single most important factor influencing long-term investment returns, regardless of short-term market fluctuations.1 You could potentially lower your investment risk and increase your chances of meeting your investment goals by maintaining an asset allocation that includes several different types of assets. Read More

Asset Allocation: Keeping Your Balance
Maintaining a portfolio with a mix of stocks and bonds that suits your risk tolerance and time horizon has been a fundamental tenet of investing for a long time. Although asset allocation does not assure a profit or protect against loss in a declining market, investors who base their investment strategy on a target asset allocation may find it easier to stick with it when the stock market experiences significant ups and downs. Read More

Working with a Financial Professional
Proper long-term financial planning requires time, skill, discipline, and confidence — a combination that many individuals may lack. It’s understandable that so many individuals are reluctant to take on the responsibility of researching and implementing their own investment programs. If you find yourself in this situation, it may make sense to consider working with a financial professional. Read More